This article refers to how elderly people, experiencing various limitations in everyday life and needing the support of others, participate in culture. The author analyzes the selected results of two educational and research projects carried out by the Centre for Educational Practices (CPE), which operates as part of Zamek Culture Centre in Poznań. The category of dependence used in these projects serves as a starting point for the consideration of interdependencies, connections and networks of relationships existing in the field of institutional culture. The aim of the analysis is to reflect on the possible ways of understanding and framing inclusive cultural practices in relation to knowledge, care and mindfulness, as well as in connection to relational concepts of participation in culture. In a broader context, the issues discussed are combined with the ways in which cultural institutions act when the need for social solidarity, coexistence and cooperation arises.